The USU Botanical Center is giving residents that opportunity with its upcoming Spring Celebration and Picnic for the Planet, set for April 22 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the center’s arboretum. Residents are encouraged to bring their own picnics to this free event, which will also include recycled art and the chance to make living seed necklaces.

“The Earth provides enough food and water to sustain 7 billion people,” said Mindy McAllister, the wetland education coordinator for the center. “This is the one day a year we really stop and think about that.”

The botanical center is holding the event in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, which also sponsors other Picnic for the Planet events around the world. There’s no set schedule of events, which means that people can arrive at or leave the picnic at any time. There are even options for if the weather turns bad.

“The Utah House will be open at the same time,” said McAllister. “If we need to, we can move inside.”

Since the event also serves as the center’s annual Spring Celebration, organizers are also teaching kids how to turn a seed into a living necklace. The seed is stored in a tiny plastic bag, small enough that it can be worn around a kid’s neck. If the bag is kept moist enough the seed will start to sprout.

“You can watch the roots spread out and the sprout develop,” said McAllister.

An exhibit of recycled art from nearby Columbia Elementary will also be on display.

“They’ve made some really neat things with boxes,” said McAllister. “One year, we had a dragon made out of an old vacuum cleaner.”